Last For Now On Torture Bill

Yeah, The Taliban Are Gone In Pakistan

Pakistani government abandons North Waziristan as the Taliban opens an office in Miranshah.

The Pakistani government, led by President Pervez Musharraf, has repeatedly stated the Waziristan Accord does not mean the government has ceded control of the region, and that the deal was between the government and the tribes, not the Taliban. The Daily Times reports otherwise. The Taliban has now officially opened an office in Miranshah, the seat of government in North Waziristan.

“The Darpakhel, Burakhel and Miranshah tribes along with the Taliban have set up an office in Miranshah to bring law and order under control,” sources close to the Taliban told Daily Times. A senior leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman) denied reports that the Taliban alone opened the office in violation of the peace agreement which aimed at preventing the Taliban from running a parallel administrative system. The office was opened on Wednesday and local residents expressed fears that the growing Taliban influence would undermine the tribal code of life.

The Daily Times also reports the Pakistani government and military are no where to be found in Miranshah. The police and Army are absent, leaving the Taliban to fill the security vacuum.

So You Have A Rough Life?

SONY RULZ!!!1!!

A little product plugging for which I receive no remuneration of any kind.

Those pix of my wrist I just posted were taken with a Sony Mavica MVC-FD71 digital camera. It's very old. It saves the pix on a floppy disk. Very convenient for downloading and you never run out of memory.

If you can find one of these or its successor on eBay or in a pawn shop, I recommend you get one. I have two and love them.

Oh yeah, grab an extra battery or two. This thing won't operate without its own battery.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Halliburton's Next Gravy Train

They aren't part of the deligation, but they'll be a player.

U.S. President George W. Bush announced Saturday that he is sending a delegation to Lebanon to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and discuss ways to help rebuild his nation left in ruins after this summer's 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

I'll let you decide for yourself if we've done a great job of rebuilding Afganistan and Iraq.

Another "I told you so". Here, here and here I've repeatedly warned anyone reading this blog about the growing strength and influence of Muqtada al-Sadr.

For many months, the administration of US George W Bush has been complaining that Iranian meddling in Iraq is a threat to the country's stability and to US troops. The irony of this publicity campaign over Tehran's alleged bid to undermine the occupation is that Iran may well be the main factor holding up a showdown between militant Shi'ites and US forces.

The underlying reality in Iraq, which the Bush administration does not appear to grasp fully, is that the United States is now

...

Three and a half years after the occupation began, the US military is no longer the real power in Iraq. As the chief of intelligence for the US Marine Corps revealed in a recent report, US troops have been unable to shake the hold that Sunni insurgents have on the vast western province of al-Anbar.

But the main threat to the occupation comes not from the Sunni insurgents but from the militant Iraqi Shi'ite forces aligned with Iran, led by Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army. The armed Shi'ite militias are now powerful enough to make it impossible for the US occupation to continue.

And We Progressives Told You So

For years now progressive bloggers have been telling you the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a huge mistake and was making the threat of terrorism worse, rather than better.

A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.

And, surprise, Bushco has been lying about this too.

The classified National Intelligence Estimate attributes a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents or in a report released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee, according to several officials in Washington involved in preparing the assessment or who have read the final document.

Cat Blogging

About Me

Spent many years programming, mostly mainframes. Been in business for myself, sky dived, scuba dived, practiced karate (until the broken ribs & finger), driven a sprint car (unreal). Want the US to be great again and worry it's impossible. I consider myself a moderate because I believe most Americans don't approve of torture, do want everyone to have health care, a pension and/or a job, privacy, freedom and NO WAR. Not too radical. I use profanity like a sailor so you should leave if you are sensitive.

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